FOI's... ever use them?

Interesting thread ... any suggestions of how to get the sort of information you'd get from a FOIA from a private institution, or are you kind of SOL there?

 

Depends on what you're looking for. They don't have to give the same level of detail, because, of course, they're private. Nor are they subject to Freedom of Information laws.
But, as mentioned above, there's stuff (including salaries of highest-paid employees, top five contractors, etc.) that they must disclose in 990's, in bond prospectuses and in their certified financial statements, which are great resources if you can get them (in NY, every nonprofit w/more than $250K in revenue must file one with the AG's office, and sometimes they're included on Guidestar with a 990).
And, wherever a private entity bumps into the regulatory process, there's going to be paperwork that you can get under FOIA. If they're building a new stadium, for instance, there should be loads of it, especially if they use any public money.

 

publicly-held companies have to file something called a 10-K report with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Go to the SEC site and search the EDGAR archives. all sorts of good stuff, salaries, stock options, litigation, etc.

 

I keep a monthly FOI request at my school. Usually try to do it at the first of every month to FOI everything for the previous month (though I'll admit I slipped this month). Hint: If you're FOIing for NCAA correspondence, i.e. self-reported violations, etc., is always good karma to give the compliance dude a heads-up before he gets the official letter or just have him trained to know you FOI every month. A wise old scribe once gave me that tip and I've noticed it is well-appreciated.

 

Excuse my ignorance...and I'm serious.
But, how is this helpful when schools are either non, not-for profit or public institutions?

 

Kind of what I was thinking. I filed three in the past two months, and it was only that low because there hasn't been any turnover in the coaching staffs during that time.

I'll second the notion of finding the person at the school who files all this. The AD/SID/Coaches won't know what they're doing, and sometimes, they don't understand the legal ramifications of what they need to fill out.

I will add that I had no clue what a 990 was until I read this. Good stuff, and keep it coming.

 

Actually I used to be a sportswriter, now I cover business.
Anyway, some small things to remember.
When you have some free time, register at guidestar and pull a couple of 990s. Just to get a look at them and see how the information is organized.
Do not be embarassed to ask for help. Get a veteran biz writer, or a financial person to have you walk you through the form. The numbers can be daunting and they can be meaningless without the context so getting some help is very important.
The foundations and the non-profits have to list who is on the board. Do a work up on each board member, you might be able to cultivate a source who will feed you things. And go back and look at the old 990s, compare the board members then and now. If you see someone who isn't on the board, find out why. A disgruntled ex-board member can be a gold mine.
Always do your homework, look at the 990 before you talk to the person. It lets you ask better questions and it can really freak the person out.
And that is always good times.

 

Great thread and it has taught me a couple of things. We need more of this stuff.

Anyway, the FOI can also be used to compel compliance when university offices are not forthcoming. We had a pretty standard FOI denied on "personnel" basis a while back, which was total bullshit. So we instead FOId about 450 pages that we knew included some restricted info and would require redaction and review by university counsel ... an office that had neither the time nor resources to complete the task in the allotted period, but the same office that stonewalled our earlier request. They called to ask why we wanted the info and we told them what we were working on, but that if they only gave us this document we had requested in an earlier FOI, we would withdraw the longer one. They had the original document ready for us within an hour.

 

990s: Trust me, there's much to be learned from dissecting those documents. Most of it won't pay off in an immediate story, so don't go thinking along those lines, but it will help you understand the financial aspect of the particular entity, which can go a long way in understanding how it relates to the school you cover.

The top five highest paid employees/contractors is a pretty useful entry, but always look to see if the organization lost or gained money on a sale, etc., too. You never know until you look...

 

Need a little help here:

Is there anywhere besides Guidestar to search or request an to see an organization's most recent tax returns?
I'm doing a story on an organization that has been less-than-forthcoming in providing its financial statements. It is a 501 (c)(3) org. I've found most of its tax returns through Guidestar, but I was wanting to track down 2005 and possibly 2006 if available.
Is there another source I can use? Is there an agency I can call to request those documents?

 

Orville,

Depending on the state, you might try the state Attorney General's office. Some states require orgs over a certain size to file 990s and certified financial statements. You may also try just flat out asking them, and informing them that federal tax law requires them to make their most recent 990 available for inspection and say you'll be filing a complaint with the IRS if they don't comply. They might go for that.
But unfortunately, the lag time on 990s is pretty long. They don't actually have to file until, I think, March of the next year, and you can file for extensions to drag it out through November. Then the document needs to get processed by the IRS before it gets made public.
So recent stuff is hard to get.
That said, if they've borrowed money from any public entity (an IDA or a bonding agency, for instance), they probably have to file financials on a more regular basis. You might try there. The same may go for any government contracts they hold. Anywhere they bump into a public agency, they'll leave documents you can FOIL and look at, and some of those may include the info you're looking for.
Of course, no one's more helpful than a sympathetic board member. Those guys probably get financials every quarter. Perhaps one would share.
Good luck.